Will ExxonMobil and Peabody Coal Chu up the New Energy Secretary?

onDec 11, 2008 @ 16:38 PST

President-elect Obama has chosen Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, who heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be the next energy secretary. He should have picked a street-fighter instead. Chu is making enormous contributions to nano-solar and bio-based energy technology. He’s also a strong believer in the need to combat global warming. But given his demeanor and his scientific background, it’s very likely that ExxonMobil, Peabody Coal and the rest of the dinosaur lobby will hand him his lunch.

By Ross Gelbspan

Somalia’s Parliament and Public Are Questioning the President’s Shadowy Oil Deal With Turkey

ByOscar Rothstein

on Nov 10, 2026 @ 20:00 MST

Some MPs say the arrangement — which gives Turkish Petroleum 95% of revenues on estimated 20 billion barrels of oil — is "illegitimate".

UN Fails to Disclose Company Names on Biodiversity Summit Delegates List

ByRachel Sherrington, Clare Carlile and Brigitte Wear

on Nov 10, 2026 @ 09:39 MST

Hundreds of representatives from the world’s most powerful industry bodies representing sectors that harm, or exploit, the natural world were present on the ground at the October nature summit in ...

Series: Big Ag's Climate Push

French Oil Giant Backs Dozens of Lobby Groups Fighting New Methane Rules Around the World

ByCécile Marchand and TJ Jordan

on Nov 10, 2026 @ 04:07 MST

TotalEnergies has won plaudits for voluntary steps to tackle the planet-heating gas. So why does it fund moves to delay, dilute or dismantle regulation?